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When Life is a Desert

We stand looking out at the vast expanse of earth and marvel at these red rocks before us. I imagine the Creator’s hand sculpting stone, how He smiled when He formed the peaks, like whipped cream in His pottering hands.

The sky is so blue today, it’s the perfect backdrop for the canyon. It makes the reds and oranges even more vibrant.

Surrounding the rocks though is mostly desert. The greyish floor spans far and wide. Small green plants are scattered here and there.

The sun is hot, dry. We see hikers scaling the peaks. Dad thinks they probably got an early start that morning; the desert sun will zap up your energy and water quickly.

I remember laying on the jungle floor, the energy for life taken out of me. I begged God for a stream.

Sometimes life is a desert. And sometimes you’re sitting on that dusty floor, the dry heat pounding down, just waiting for a sip of water, waiting for some sort of relief.

“...My whole being longs for you, in a dry and parched land where there is no water.” Psalm 63:1

The desert can’t boast for much life. Only a select few plants and animals can survive here, but the ones that can have everything they need right in their DNA to live. The desert tortoise can survive for up to 80 years in the desert.

“Desert tortoises can tolerate water, salt, and energy imbalances on a daily basis, which increases their lifespan.”

You and me- we can make it too. Because He’s given us what we need, right in our very DNA. This is why creation longs for Him, because He made us to. And because He wants us to know that our sufferings can’t compare to the glory that awaits.

He said it to His disciples and He keeps on saying it to us: “In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world.” John 16:33

He said call to Him and He’ll answer. He said come to Him and He’ll give you rest. He makes water come from rocks and fashions streams in the desert.

“He turned the desert into pools of water and the parched ground into flowing springs.” Psalm 107:35

And sometimes sand can work wonders too. Sometimes those dry, tiny grains make magic. Would you believe that these marvelously formed rocks used to be sand dunes? It’s wild and upside down and we forget that beauty comes from the hardest places.

We forget that in the driest spaces, the most amazing things can happen.

I’ve seen it happen: solid ground forming in the depths of my heart. When I thought I couldn’t go on, when my faith was feet on sinking sand, He was paving road beneath me. He was making a way.

So, I know that I can trust Him in the dry places. And when the body aches and soul thirsts, He’s making beautiful things.